<p>I'm the parent of 2 Asian teenagers (son from Vietnam, daughter from China). Are there any liberal arts colleges you know of that are actively seeking a more diverse student body, would be likely to give such students good need-based aid, and accept students with an A- average? We are willing to consider schools in any area of the US (though my daughter prefers a warm climate) and don't care about "name recognition", only that the school offers good academics and quality of student life. Thank you for your suggestions.</p>
<p>I don’t think any A- LAC’s are looking for Asian diversity except the colleges in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana etc.</p>
<p>^ I disagree.
At many LACs, Asians seem to be URMs (unlike at many selective research universities, where they are ORMs).</p>
<p>For any LAC of interest, look up the number of Asians in section B of the Common Data Set file. For example, according to the Bates College 2012-13 CDS, section B2, only 17 entering students were Asian/non-Hispanic. That’s about 3% of the 503-student entering class. Colorado College enrolled 26 Asians out of 510 (~5% of entering freshmen). These are much lower rates than you’d find at many selective universities.</p>
<p>Also, consider this site:
[Top</a> 25 Financial Aid Colleges in US for International Students (Need-aware) - Desperate Guide: Undergraduate College Financial Aid, Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware]Top”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware)
Notice that nearly all the 25 listed schools are LACs. If LACs are willing to pay a financial aid premium for international students, that (combined with the CDS and anecdotal evidence) suggests to me that many of them aren’t getting the diversity they want.</p>
<p>For many Asian Americans, LACs can be good “contrarian” choice. Check out LACs in roughly the #21-50 range of the US News “National LACs” ranking. Adjust that range up/down depending on your kids’ qualifications and interests; ignore ranking differences within the range. In my somewhat biased opinion, the quality of LACs is relatively consistent across a fairly wide selectivity/ranking range. So, a Kenyon or a Whitman is pretty much the same academic product as a Middlebury or a Bowdoin. Same small classes, same traditional buildings and tree-lined quads, same liberal arts focus, many professors w/degrees from top schools, many A students, etc. etc. The former are a bit less selective and the aid might not be quite as good as the latter.</p>
<p>There are places like Truman State, University of Minnesota - Morris, University of North Carolina - Asheville, SUNY - Geneseo, and the like (see [COPLAC</a> | Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges](<a href=“http://www.coplac.org/students/admissions.php]COPLAC”>http://www.coplac.org/students/admissions.php) ) that are neither super-selective nor super-expensive (though non-resident financial aid may be limited – check the net price calculators).</p>
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<p>Wouldn’t the small size mean that “fit” (both academic and non-academic) considerations be quite important when looking at LACs? Middlebury and Harvey Mudd may both be LACs, but may not be good “fits” for the same students.</p>
<p>OP, you should look at Whitman.</p>
<p>^^ Depends on what kind of “fit” issues we’re talking about. Some students are more sensitive to some than to others. Weather? If you care about that, the differences would apply equally to big schools and small. Social life? If you find yourself in an atmosphere that’s too preppy, fratty, cliquish, druggy, or politically correct for your liking, then yes, that might be harder to escape at a small school.</p>
<p>the ivies discriminate against asians. LACs not really an issue
muhlenberg college is a great lac, check out that school.
but when you start applying do not look desperate in trying to play up the “diversity” stuff.
they will see your child is asian in an interview, but it is not like being part of some other groups.being asian for college admissions is not a golden ticket.</p>
<p>LACs – even top rated ones – in locations that are rural and/or are not on either coast actively recruit non-Whites, including Asians. Although many LACs maintain healthy diversity percentages, it’s impossible to know how many non-Whites they admitted to get to those percentages. So you have to speculate beyond the enrollment rates to guess at the chances of admissions. </p>
<p>A-minus averages won’t keep your kids out of any LAC, even the most selective, though, of course they should have a balanced list of reach/match/safety. Their scores will be a factor, but equally important are their recommendations, essays, extracurriculars, interests and life experience. </p>
<p>Without knowing your childrens’ preferences in campus personality and environment, it’s hard to recommend, but some ideas to look at: Grinnell, Carleton, Kenyon, Rhodes, Davidson, Williams, Middlebury, Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin. For your daughter women’s colleges, like Smith, Holyoke.</p>
<p>Holy Cross, Trinity College.</p>
<p>I got into (and am attending!) Davidson College with an A- GPA which fits a lot of your criteria: need-based, great academics, definitely looking to expand diversity, and (for your daughter) it’s located in North Carolina which has a very nice balance of the 4 seasons. It’s not incredibly homogeneous though as there’s a fair amount of diversity but they’re still looking to expand it, so they shouldn’t feel out of place racially. It definitely has great academics and a high quality of life. I’m semi low-income and the cost of attendance for me is incredibly low; I could work part time and pay off my first year’s cost without any outside help. Do your children have Chinese/Vietnamese citizenship or American citizenship? Davidson offers a need-blind full-need policy for domestic students.</p>
<p>An A- gpa in-and-of itself won’t keep them out (just look at my profile!), you just have to make sure the rest of their resume is great. They look at demonstrated interest fairly highly too so if your children decide they like the school, try touring it or sending them emails to show that you’re interested. Also, I’m not sure if Davidson is doing it this year but if one or both is a rising senior, try to see if you can apply to the Davidson Multicultural Visit. It’s an overnight visit, transportation is covered, and it’ll really help them get a feel for the school.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/Documents/AdmissionFinancial%20Aid/Multicultural%20Visitation%20Program%20-%20083111.pdf[/url]”>http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/Documents/AdmissionFinancial%20Aid/Multicultural%20Visitation%20Program%20-%20083111.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thank you to all who replied. I’ll keep these schools in mind as we continue the college search over the next few years. My son is a rising junior, so we’ll have to see how he does on the PSAT and SAT, as well as look for schools that are a good fit and can offer sufficient financial aid.</p>
<p>I know Grinnell does recruit Asians, my daughter’s friend was sent a plane ticket to visit. Supposed to be a great school, very well endowed, vibrant campus scene, many kids are able to do a semester or two abroad. Quite selective, though.</p>
<p>A few LACs in states with relatively warm weather:</p>
<p>Agnes Scott (GA, women only)
Davidson (NC)
Guilford (NC)
Hendrix (AK)
Mills (CA, women only)
Rhodes (TN)
University of Richmond (VA)</p>
<p>Davidson & Richmond are need-blind, full-need schools. They also are more selective than the others.</p>
<p>University of Richmond is not very diverse… You can expect it to be very white</p>
<p>I’d definitely encourage you to take a close look at Grinnell. It’s a great school with great academic and financial resources, and everyone I’ve ever known who has gone there has loved it. But because it’s located in a small town in Iowa, it doesn’t get nearly the recognition–or the number of applications–it deserves. And Iowa is diversity-challenged, so Asian applicants are not only welcomed but essentially treated as URMs.</p>
<p>It’s not warm weather. But truth be told, there just aren’t all that many warm-weather LACs.</p>